Time
Management Facts & Figures |
Time Management Facts and Figures
By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
During the last twenty years, after making over 2,000 presentations around the world, I
have gathered some interesting facts and figures about Time Management and Personal
Productivity for your use and enjoyment.
-There will be 2.2 million deaths in this country this
year. 75% are from causes that are largely preventable.
-There will be 2 million marriages in this country this
year and 1 million divorces.
-95% of divorces are caused by a "lack of
communication"
-The average working person spends less than 2 minutes per
day in meaningful communication with their spouse or "significant other".
-The average working person spends less than 30 seconds a
day in meaningful communication with their children.
-80% of employees do not want to go to work on Monday
morning. By Friday, the rate only drops to 60%.
-The average person uses 13 different methods to control
and manage their time.
-The average person gets 1 interruption every 8 minutes, or
approximately 7 an hour, or 50-60 per day. The average interruption takes 5 minutes,
totaling about 4 hours or 50% of the average workday. 80% of those interruptions are
typically rated as "little value" or "no value" creating approximately
3 hours of wasted time per day.
-On an average day, there are 17 million meetings in
America.
-By taking 1 hour per day for independent study, 7 hours
per week, 365 hours in a year, one can learn at the rate of a full-time student. In 3-5
years, the average person can become an expert in the topic of their choice, by spending
only one hour per day.
-95% of the books in this country are purchased by 5% of
the population. 95% of self-improvement books, audio tapes, and video tapes purchased are
not used.
-97% of workers, if they became financially independent,
would not continue with their current employer or in their current occupation.
-20% of the average workday is spent on "crucial"
and "important" things, while 80% of the average workday is spent on things that
have "little value" or "no value".
-In the last 20 years, working time has increased by 15%
and leisure time has decreased by 33%.
-A person who works with a "messy" or cluttered
desk spends, on average, 1 1/2 hours per day looking for things or being distracted by
things or approximately 7 1/2 per workweek. "Out of sight; out of mind." When
it’s in sight, it’s in mind.
-The average reading speed is approximately 200 words per
minute. The average working person reads 2 hours per day. A Speed Reading course that will
improve the reading rate to 400 words per minute will save an hour per day.
-90% of those who join health and fitness clubs will stop
going within the first 90 days.
-9 out of 10 people daydream in meetings.
-60% of meeting attendees take notes to appear as if they
are listening.
-40% of working people skip breakfast. 39% skip lunch. Of
those who take a lunch break, 50% allow only 15 minutes of less.
-It takes approximately 30 days to establish a new physical
or emotional habit.
-The average worker sends and receives 190 messages per
day.
-The average American watches 28 hours of television per
week.
-78% of workers in America wish they had more time to
"smell the roses".
-49% of workers in America complain that they are on a
treadmill.
-Angry people are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack
as a person in better control of their emotions.
-75% of heart attacks occur between the hours of 5:00
a.m.-8:00 a.m., local time.
-More heart attacks occur on Monday than on any other day
of the week.
-25% of sick days are taken for illness. 75% of sick days
are taken for other reasons.
-95% of the things we fear will occur, do not occur.
-Taking 5 minutes per day, 5 days per week to improve
one’s job will create 1,200 little improvements to a job over a 5 year period.
-1 out of 3 workers changes jobs every year.
-1 out of 5 people moves every year.
-70% of American workers desire to own their own business.
-75% of American workers complain that they are tired.
-The average worker gets a 6 hours and 57 minutes of sleep
per night.
-80% of "Crisis Management" events are
preventable.
-The average worker spends 35 minutes per day commuting.
-When someone is asking for our time for a meeting, 80% of
the time, there is an alternate date and time that will be acceptable.
-Good Time Managers do not allocate their time to those who
"demand" it, but rather, to those who "deserve" it.
-The most powerful word in our Time Management vocabulary
is "no".
-70% of business and professional people use a "to
do" list on a regular basis to administer their "have to’s".
-5% of business and professional people use a "to
do" list on a regular basis to administer not only their "have to’s",
but also their "want to’s".
-"If you want to get something done, give it to a busy
person."
-It almost always takes twice as long to complete a task as
what we originally thought it would take.
-"A project tends to expand with the time allocated
for it." If you give yourself one thing to do, it will take all day. If you give
yourself two things to do, you get them both done. If you give yourself a dozen things to
do, you may not get 12 done, but you’ll get 7 or 8 completed.
-Delegation is an unlimited method to multiply time for
achieving results.
-The hardest part about delegation is simply letting go.
"If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself."
-1 hour of planning will save 10 hours of doing.
-Hiring a college student to do routine tasks (grocery
shopping, yard work, household chores, etc.) will free up as much as 20 hours per week for
the average person to devote to more productive uses.
-The average person today (1999) receives more information
on a daily basis, than the average person received in a lifetime in 1900.
-The "20/80 Rule" tells us we will typically
accomplish 80% of our results through 20% of our effort. The other 20% of additional
results comes from about 80% of additional effort.
-"Stressed" spelled backwards is
"desserts".
-We retain 10% of what we read. We retain 20% of what we
hear. We retain 30% of what we see. We retain 50% of what we hear and see. We retain 70%
of what we say. We retain 90% of what we do.
-Half of what is known today, we did not know 10 years ago.
The amount of knowledgein the world has doubled in the last 10 years. And it is said to be
doubling again every 18 months.
-Time Management is not doing the wrong things quicker.
That just gets us nowhere faster. Time Management is doing the right things.
-"If you always do what you’ve always done, you
always get what you’ve always got." To change our output, we must change our
input.
Dr. Donald E. Wetmore-Professional Speaker
Productivity Institute
Time Management Seminars
60 Huntington St., P.O. Box 2126
Shelton, CT 06484
(800) 969-3773
(203) 386-8062
Fax: (203) 386-8064
Email: ctsem@msn.com
http://www.balancetime.com
Professional Member-National Speakers Association
Dr. Donald E. Wetmore, a full-time Professional Speaker, is
one of the foremost experts on Time Management and Personal Productivity and the author of
"Beat the Clock". If you would like to receive a free copy of his article,
"The Five Top Time Management Mistakes", email your request for
"mistakes" to: ctsem@msn.com
